Our most unique and challenging trick is our Rocking Horse riding. This classic trick is our Sittingbullies trademark–and as far as I know they are the only dogs in the world to do this crazy feat! My bigger bullies, Rosie, Gabe & Solo did it best, however a more “feminine-sized” pony is in the works to help the smaller girls master this very difficult skill.

When Rosie started copying my boys and scooting around on their skateboard back in the fall of 1989 it was something I had never seen a dog do before. Since then there are hordes of hounds “hanging twenty” and even learning to steer and navigate steps, etc. and this strange quirk seems to especially be attributed to our Bulldog breed, more than any other. While my bullies at home have never spent enough time on their boards to master steering or other more complicated maneuvers, it has actually taken very little effort to get them to clamor aboard and start motoring around. With minimal encouragement they can easily become “obsessed” as their prey drive kicks in and they must conquer that board! Walter, who lives with his co-owners Nadine & Marcus Singel, has spent hours on his beloved board (as well as his modified “snowboard”) and he steers and navigates like the pro that he is!

A similar skill to skateboarding, my dogs have taken off on this fairly quickly as they jump up to place their front feet on the handles while stepping one foot onto the board and scooting with the other back leg. I have modified the scooter by bolting the handles so they don’t turn. Several of my dogs have learned just by watching an older dog do this trick!

This is one of the many skills that can easily come once a dog learns to use his paw to wave, hi-five, shake a paw, etc. I teach my dogs to use both right and left paws early on which helps to form a more natural technique. Solo was just six weeks old when he caught on to this trick and together we discovered that if he sat up while playing, he could press the piano keys with each paw in turn to make the best “music” possible. Since then, I’ve trained his style of playing to my youngsters.